Another Kashmiri born in Separatist hotbed tops CRPF Batch

New Delhi, Sept 16: Kashmir at present may be reeling under a common angst against the presence of security forces but a Kashmiri youth from a separatist hotbed Sopore is all set to fight Maoists in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh.

Being the topper, Khan led the passing out parade of the 47th batch of directly appointed gazetted officers at CRPF academy, Kadarpur in Gurgaon on Thursday.

Khan comes from Pehlipora village of Baramulla where he was born in the year 1990 right when militancy had just erupted in the Valley. Junaid’s father, Aabid Hussain Khan is a banker and mother Muneera, an academician.

Khan’s elder sister is married in Sopore and runs a day-care centre while his younger sister is pursuing clinical biochemistry at the University of Kashmir. His family lives in Sopore, which is also known to be a separatist hotbed along with being one of the most sensitive areas in Kashmir.

Any reader from Kashmir would be surprised to see the similarities between Khan and Burhan Wani whose death in July has since set fire to Kashmir. Wani was famous as he used his computer skills well to promote the working of Hizbul Mujahideen in the valley. Junaid Khan is a computer science graduate from government college, Jammu.

Both Wani and Khan come from well-to-do families as well.

Wani’s father was a headmaster and Khan’s mother is principal at district institute of education and training (DIET), Sopore.

The difference is diagonally opposite. While Khan has now picked up a gun to fight for India in Chattisgarh against the Maoists, Wani used his to rage sentiments against the country. While Wani drew Kashmiri youth towards militancy, Khan vivaciously looks forward to bringing in a solution to Kashmir.

“I will make full use of CRPF to the best to restore peace in Kashmir,’ said assistant commandant Khan, as quoted by HT, who would be posted to fight Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur next month.

Khan finished schooling from St Joseph’s School in Baramulla in 2008 and then went on to complete a degree in computer science from Government College in Jammu in 2012. Ever since, Khan had been preparing for union public service commission (UPSC) examinations in Delhi’s Rajendra Nagar area. He appeared in the combined UPSC test in 2013, the result of which was announced in 2014. On Thursday he, along with 83 colleagues including five women officers, Khan completed a 52-week training and was inducted into the CRPF.